Wednesday, September 29, 2010

A farm auction in Derby, Connecticut in September, 1940 drew people from all walks of life. Photographed 70 years ago by Jack Delano for the Farm Services Administration, documenting country life during the Great Depression.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Our yard is a crossroads of sorts, with various neighborhood cats using it as a shortcut to their hunting grounds in the field next door. One such feline is the Imposter, so named because on a moonlit night, he looks ever so much like Thomas, our most favored visitor. The Imposter has never warmed up to us and growls and moans at our approach. We've tried to be friends, but he's not having it.

Until recently... Most of the cats stop by the patio to partake of several clumps of catnip. Usually the sound of the patio door opening is enough to send the Imposter running. It must have been the warm autumn evening combined with catnip induced lethargy. He stuck around long enough to eat a pinch of nip and pose for a picture.

Friday, September 24, 2010

The plumeria are blooming late this year, but they're making up for it with abundant blossoms.

Known as frangipani in Hawaii, its fragrance is one of the sweetest. If your weather is mild enough, you can grow this tree easily. All you have to do is break off a branch, stick it in the soil and give it regular water and either a southern or westerly exposure.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Just north of us, the Coast Highway runs right along the ocean. At this time of year, we're a good five months past any decent rainfall, so the native coastal plants are brown and crisp. We parked on the bluffs above the water recently, with hamburgers and french fries.

There were a few brave souls with bogey boards, but not many, as the water is back in the 50s and the summer tourist season is over.

It didn't take long for this little fellow to smell the french fries.

He seemed to weigh his options - either hold his ground and pose for pictures or surrender his bounty to the crows. He opted for the fries.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

This Brockton, Massachusetts family gathered outside their tenement building in December, 1940 to pose for Jack Delano, a photographer for the Farm Services Administration. The Works Progress Administration had hired scores of photographers to document life across the United States during the Great Depression.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

No clue where this saloon was located. This picture caught my interest because of the unusual paddle fans suspended from the ceiling and drying cloths hanging on the bar for the patrons. Probably circa 1910.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

In a scene reminiscent of a Winslow Homer painting, children gathered shoreside in Stonington, Connecticut in November, 1940. At that point, the Great Depression had ground on for 10 long years. The photograph is from the Library of Congress and made by Jack Delano for the Farm Services Administration.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Since our town's long suffering public art installation was surrounded by a large papier mache shark, it has received national coverage in the Wall Street Journal. The pranks continue and as you can see, above, the statue makes a perfect Zorro. On guard!

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Friday, September 10, 2010

Yesterday the weatherman called for gray skies and possible drizzle but he couldn't have been more wrong. It was clear and warm, a glorious morning with more shades of blue than there are words to describe.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

If you have a blog and you've never checked out the analytics feature, you may want to give it a look. It shows where your readers are, what they've read (or given a glance), how long they stayed and how they got to your blog. A great many of my readers come via the blogs of a poetess/farmer's wife in the English countryside, a long distance bike riding school teacher in Canada, a novelist in New Zealand, an antiques dealer in Iowa and a furniture builder/philosopher/father in Maine.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Old beyond their years, Faro and Doris Caudill were homesteaders in Pie Town, New Mexico in October, 1940, when this color photograph was made by Russell Lee for the Farm Services Administration. Pie Town was inhabited by farmers driven out of Oklahoma and Texas by the Dust Bowl and desperate times of the Great Depression. Below, they gathered with their children for the evening meal.

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Lansing, Michigan has never been considered the Old West, but this picture was too good to exclude. The year was 1900 and the women's temperance leagues were getting more and more active. This saloon employed a curtain, visible rolled up just below the ceiling, that could be dropped when it became necessary to shield the drinkers from the overly judgemental.

Friday, September 3, 2010

My best friend Susan joined me for a walk in the neighborhood earlier this week. With most local schools back in session, the streets have quieted down and cars were few and far between. The majority of noise came from these three geese, who sent up a cacophony of sound the minute we rounded their corner.

Less conspicuous was a lone dandelion, which had found enough soil along the concrete curb to take root, blossom and go to seed.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

My favorite neighbors (my daughter and Kevin) have been hard at work transforming their yard into an outdoor room. They've been working for over a month now, relocating palm trees, building a wall for raised flower beds, getting ready to lay a flagstone patio and creating two different levels for the lawn.

The flat area in front of the wall will be the patio.

This plan involved removing three 20 foot tall queen palm trees - not easy. The pictures above and below show the palm trees' stumps and root balls they dug up.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Two more photographs from Jack Delano for the Farm Services Administration, made in June, 1941, outside White Plains in Greene County, Georgia. Above, tending to the cotton fields was a hot and dusty job. While below, a trip into town on a Saturday afternoon was one of the highlights of the week.